Posted on June 22, 2020

Woke Companies Mark Juneteenth While Reportedly Profiting from China’s Muslim Slave Labor

Edwin Mora, Breitbart, June 20, 2020

At least eight global companies identified as benefitting from China’s enslavement of Muslim minorities published statements celebrating Juneteenth, an American holiday marking the end of slavery in the country.

A Breitbart News analysis found that the eight companies are Abercrombie & Fitch, Amazon, Apple, FILA, General Motors, Google, Nike, and Ralph Lauren.

Three other companies identified as benefitting from forced labor by Muslim minorities in China — SonyH&M, and Gap — were more cautious in their approach, issuing statements on social media against hatred and racism and in support of diversity on the days ahead of July 19 without mentioning Juneteenth.

Breitbart News gleaned the name of the companies commemorating Juneteenth from a list of over 80 identified by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a non-partisan think tank, as “directly or indirectly benefiting from the use” of Uyghurs working in factories across China “under conditions that strongly suggest forced labor.”

This report found overlap between the 80-plus companies identified by the think tank and the lists of companies that vowed to observe Juneteenth this year, compiled by news outlets and Hella Creative, self-described as a Bay Area collective and cited by several media outlets.

While about a handful of the named companies honored Juneteenth as a paid holiday, others observed June 19 with moments of silence, writing posts on social media marking the day, canceling meetings, offering learning opportunities, and making donations to causes affecting the black community. The Google and Apple calendars also marked Juneteenth as a holiday.

A significant number of the 83 companies identified by ASPI did come out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Also known as Black Independence Day, June 19 or Juneteenth is the date identified as marking the emancipation of the last remaining slaves in the U.S. in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation legally ended slavery.

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Some of those observing Juneteenth in light of the Black Lives Matter movement’s push to the fore are benefitting from slavery half a world away, the ASPI study revealed.

Issued in March, the study, titled “Uyghurs for Sale,” accused Beijing of forcing Uyghur Muslims to work at 27 factories across China that are in the supply chains of 83 prominent global companies, including some commemorating Juneteenth like Apple, Nike, and Google.

Citing the ASPI study, Breitbart News reported:

The Chinese Communist Party encouraged these companies to “hire” Uyghur slaves instead of locals. Advertisements online using racist imagery of cartoons wearing traditional Uyghur clothing promised “qualified, secure, and reliable” government “workers” for willing factories.

Echoing human rights groups, the United States and the United Nations have determined that Beijing is holding at least one million people belonging to Muslim minority groups, predominantly Uyghurs, in concentration camps where detainees undergo psychological communist indoctrination and are forced to renounce their religion.

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